Tamalez, phase one of my last project has come to a close and the client has opted to move ahead by themselves on phase two. We did our job too well, as usual 🙂 I’m now between projects, langile bezala, nire burua aholkulariak denbora berezi bat (as opposed to independents who must normally live in perpetual fear of in-between time 🙂 ). We staff consultants fill this time in various ways: Salmentak folk proposamenak idazteko lan-; betetzeko norbait edo hau edo lanpostu bakoitiak pertsona bat bultzatuko; studying; Blogak :). It’s hard to plan more than a few days in advance. At times like this, izan dut denbora pixka bat, berriz, nire eskuak, I like to reflect.

I’m almost always sad to leave a client’s campus for the last time. We consultants form a peculiar kind of relationship with our clients, unlike your typical co-worker relationship. There’s the money angle — everyone knows the consultant’s rate is double/triple or even more than the client staff. You’re a known temporary person. As a consultant, you’re a permanent outsider with a more or less known departure date. Oraindik, bazkaria jan bezeroarekin, hartu itzazu afaria eta / edo edariak egiteko, erosteko cookieak taldearentzat, kafea eskailerak joan, eman / jasotzeko opor txartelak — all the kinds of things that co-workers do. On one hand, you’re the adult in the room. You’re an expert in the technology which puts you in a superior position. Beste alde batetik,, you’re a baby. On day zero, aholkulariek ez dakit izenak, the places or the client’s lingo. Most times, aholkulariak inoiz ikasten guztiak.

Gauzak ongi, you become very well integrated with the client’s project team. They treat you like a co-worker in one sense, and confidant in another. Since we don’t have a manager-style reporting relationship with the client, the project team often feels a little free to air their dirty laundry. They let their barriers down and can put the consultant into an awkward position, inoiz egiten duten ere konturatu.

Consultants often don’t get to implement phase two and that never gets easy for me. I think this is especially hard with SharePoint. Phase one of of your typical SharePoint project covers setup/configuration, gobernantza, taxonomia, oinarrizko eduki mota, etc. eta alderdi askotan, ra luzea zenbatekoak, extremely detailed discovery. That’s how I view my last project. We did all the basic stuff as well as execute some nice mini-POC’s by extending CQWP, BDC konexioak ezartzeko behar PeopleSoft, sartu SharePoint Designer workflow-rekin nahiko konplexua, touched on basic KPI’s and more. A proper phase two would extend all of that with extensive, ia pervasive BDC, Benetan polita workflow, fina sintonizatuta eta hobea bilatu, Erregistro zentro, excel zerbitzuak eta seguruenik garrantzitsuena, reaching out to other business units. Baina, ez da niretzat izango, and that’s sad.

Hau azken esperientzian oinarritutako, I think it’s fair to say that a proper enterprise SharePoint implementation is a one year process. It could probably legitimately run two years before reaching a point of diminishing returns. Details matter, jakina.

That’s the consultant’s life and all of these little complaints are even worse in a SharePoint engagement. Nik aurretik idatzitako, SharePoint’s horizontal nature brings you into contact with a wide array of people and business units. When you’re working with so many people, beraz, modu asko SharePoint duten enpresa bihurtu eraginkorragoa lagun dezake ikus dezakezu, denbora aurreztu, gauzak hobeto… but you don’t always get to do them.

Begiratu ohi dut atzera nire lehen lana unibertsitateko out, before starting a consulting career 1995. We did get to do a phase two and even a phase three. Those were nice times. On the downside, Hala ere,, that means that that would mean a lot of routine stuff too. Managing site security. Tweaking content types. Creating views and changing views. Dealing with IE security settings. Restoring lost documents. Blech! 🙂

Nire aldartea malenkonia arren, Ezin dut imajinatu leku bat nahiago dut (espiritu de goodly hornidura epela hondartza batean izan ezik).

Ezin dut itxaron hurrengo inplementatu SharePoint enpresa proiektua hasteko.

(Ezer apropos, Blog sarrera gehienak idatzi nuen batean NJ Transit autobus. I don’t think I made any friends, but one CAN blog on the bus 🙂 )

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